BlackBerry Bold delayed on AT&T until at least mid-August! — We know what you're thinking... but this is for reals! We've just confirmed this now with two high-level sources: the Bold is actually delayed until August on AT&T. It seems like AT&T and RIM are still having software issues with battery life and overheating.

Full text: An epic Bill Gates e-mail rant — Sometimes, software isn't so magical. Even for Bill Gates. — For the opening piece in our series on Gates leaving daily life at Microsoft, one goal was to give a clear picture of the Microsoft co-founder's role inside the company, as a gauge of the impact his departure will have.

Bill Gates' web experience: Byzantine, idiotic logic — Analyzing IT program management failures with the perfect vision of hindsight often leads the observer through a senseless and convoluted maze of past decisions. Studying the Byzantine and idiotic logic behind many IT failures, one wonders, “How did we get here from there?”

Helio-Virgin Mobile A Done Deal. Why Did Virgin Do It? — Virgin Mobile USA will bail out rival “virtual” carrier Helio after all, the FT reports: The companies have agreed to a deal in principle and could announce it as early as this week. — The gist: Virgin will take over Helio's subscriber base and keep its own brand.

Virgin Mobile and SK to combine operations in the US — Virgin Mobile USA is to acquire the US mobile phone operation controlled by SK Telecom of South Korea, after each side decided to combine their struggling businesses to build scale in the fast-maturing market.

Starbucks (SBUX) Dumping CDs, iTunes Gift Cards (AAPL) — Starbucks, which has been scaling back its once-grand ambitions to turn itself into an entertainment hub, is about to shrink its plans yet again. We hear that by September, the chain will have dumped almost all of its in-store music retail offerings.

iPhone 2.0 Golden Master Could Hit this Friday — According to a sources inside the Cupertino's iPhone software development effort, it is “highly probable” that the iPhone 2.0 Golden Master will hit this Friday. The final version could arrive two weeks before the introduction of the new iPhone 3G …

Social network Multiply goes premium — Multiply, a social network that has done a fine job of flying under the radar since its 2005 launch, has announced a new paid-account program that focuses on media storage. Called a “digital scrapbook,” this premium feature will cost $19.95 annually.

Time of iPhone 3G Launch Remains Unclear — Unconfirmed reports claim that the U.S. iPhone launch will take place starting at 8am, July 11th at AT&T stores nationwide. A screenshot posted to our forums claims to depict the actual email sent to AT&T managers.

I'm sticking with Windows XP — You've heard it all before — the bell tolls for Windows XP. The governor isn't calling to give it a reprieve — Microsoft is officially declaring it end of life for system OEMs on June 30. On April 14, 2009, mainstream support dies.

Farewell then, Symbian — Epoc's journey: from world-beater to basket case — The smart in smartphone disappeared — The smartphone wars once devoured a great deal of attention and energy, particularly during the long PR war that took place in the first four barren years …

Next New Networks Inks With Hulu, Yahoo, Metacafe — Next New Networks, the conglomerate of niche video channels that's best known as home of Obama Girl, has struck online video distribution deals with Yahoo, Hulu and Metacafe. Yahoo (YHOO) and Metacafe will get access to all Next New Networks programming …

E Ink: ‘E-newspapers’ to Go Commercial in late 2009 — “In the field of electronic paper-based electronic newspapers, a verification test will start by the end of 2008, and an actual business will start in the second half of 2009.” — Ryosuke Kuwata, E Ink Corp's vice president in charge …

PSD2 Compliance in Zoho Books — The Revised Payment Services Directive, also known as the PSD2, is a set of regulatory guidelines laid down by the European Union (EU) for finance, banking, and payment service companies.

Google Fi - a phone plan, by Google — We felt that most phone plans just weren't made with you in mind. So that's why we built Google Fi with features that real people actually want. Click to learn more.